


Shadows Fall But Dawn Still Comes

by Astr



Series: AU-gust 2020 [20]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Babies, Forced Pregnancy, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, Other, Pregnancy, Single Parent AU, What fresh hell is this, but it isn't a cute happy one oops, mentioned Zevran/Warden, not fluff actually, single parent, what, what did i write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:35:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26005789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astr/pseuds/Astr
Summary: AU-gust Prompt: 20. Single Parent AUNobody had seen the Inquisitor for the better part of a year. Leliana seemed to know something (she always did), but would only say she was safe. Cole knows (obviously) but he won't say anything either beyond "it's not mine to talk about."
Series: AU-gust 2020 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853722
Kudos: 11





	Shadows Fall But Dawn Still Comes

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to apologize for this hot mess. It was going to be fluff but then immediately became about as un-fluff as possible. Yikes. Here there be pain and angst and a marginally happy ending.

Nobody had seen the Inquisitor for the better part of a year. At first, there were searches. Panic. The Herald of Andraste had just… vanished. She wasn't in Orlais, or Ferelden, or even Tevinter. The Inquisition was lost without her, and having no answers only made things much, much worse.

Eventually, a message was put out that she had been found, and was recovering from her experience, and would return eventually. That stopped the search patties, since it was an official bulletin, but not the maddening questions.

Leliana seemed to know something (she always did), but would only say she was safe and move on.

Cole knew too (obviously) but he wouldn't say anything either beyond "it's not mine to talk about." And even that had to be pried out by Varric supplying him with honey-cakes.

Everyone had their guesses. Some said she had been taking a vacation with a secret lover, but that had been very quickly shot down by several in her inner circle. Some said she had gone to mourn her lost clan. But she would have, again, taken some of her inner circle with her. Some said to Kirkwall, or to Orzammar, or a hundred other places. But alone? It made no sense.

So they waited. And waited. And waited.

A month and a half later it was announced that she would be back by the end of the week. It was, frankly, jarring to have gone so suddenly from “where is she and why is she gone” to “prepare for her glorious return.” And still rife with questions. Possibly even more than before, because under what conditions could she be gone for so long, with only the vague promise of safety, to then so suddenly be returning?

Everyone had theories, everyone was making secret bets. 

Everyone wished they hadn’t.

\--

It was a cold day at the Keep when there was a thrumming of gossip. She had been spotted! Some claimed to have seen her sneaking into the stone structure in the middle of the night, others insisting she had ridden in, triumphant, in the morning, still more refusing to believe she was there at all.

Around noon, though, her closest friends - The Iron Bull, Varric, Dorian, Cullen, Vivienne, Cassandra, Solas (and Cole had already been to see her) - were asked to come up to her chambers. None of them (save Cole and Leliana) could have expected what they saw when they arrived in her bedroom, guarded by none other than the Hero of Ferelden and her lover (a former Crow, rumor said, from Antiva). 

She was standing at her window, and she looked like she had been to the darkest pits of hell and back, bruised, one arm in a sling, hair shorn off to a short fluff. Her eyes were darker, muddled by something deeply tragic, something haunting. 

More shocking even than her haggard appearance, though, was when she turned around to reveal the infant she held in her arms. The babe was obviously hers, with a full head of hair so red, skin so pale, tiny ears already delicately pointed. It was very, very clear why she had been gone these months. Why it had been such a closely guarded secret.

No one quite knew what to say. Probably because they had to get through the million worries ripping through their minds. What had happened? Where did this baby come from? Why did she have a baby? When had this happened? What had happened? Who was the Father? Who was the Father? Who in Andraste’s blessed name was the father?? What. Had. Happened??

Solas managed to break from the inner turmoil first, and instead of blurting out the obvious questions, he found tact with, “And who is this little one?”

The Inquisitor - had she always been so small? So frail looking? - managed a weak smile.

“I want to have Dorian’s permission first, but I’d like to name him Felix.”

Then the floodgates opened, and she was bawling her eyes out, Bull carefully scooping the tiny (so very tiny were all Dalish newborns so tiny???) babe from her arms as Dorian and Cullen helped her to the bed to sit, Cassandra grabbing blankets, Solas and Vivienne finding something for her to drink (no alcohol, nothing too flavorful or with this herb or that spice, finally settling on simple water) and Varric, per usual, was grabbing something to write with.

It had been a long time since any of them had seen her so shaken. So deeply unwell. Her sobs brought the Hero and her lover in, helping soothe her, speaking to her so softly the others couldn’t hear.

The truth came in pieces, between Zevran (the Hero of Ferelden’s lover) taking the men out and down to find something warm and hearty to eat, and Kanaia (the Hero herself) talking to the ladies after the babe was fed and Inquisitor sent into sleep by a potion (infant friendly, they had been assured).

She had been out hunting, alone, despite the countless warnings not to be so reckless. She had gotten ambushed by something (either Darkspawn or Demons, she couldn’t remember) and had been “saved” by some traveling Avvar exiles. After so nobly rescuing her, they knocked her out and dragged her back to their camp. Between arguing over what they should demand for her ransom and thwarting her escape attempts, they decided that whatever the Inquisitor was worth would be surely doubled by the inclusion of The Inquisitor’s Child, and that forcing such upon her would be suitable punishment for the wrongs she had allegedly done them. 

Neither Kanaia nor Zevran knew exactly how long she had been kept and… well. Just that they had found her on their way to come visit the Inquisition, in a desolate little cave in the Hinterlands, broken, bloody, and very, very pregnant. They had rescued her, butchered everyone in the camp, and took her to their home, to get warm and heal, sending for Leliana, a dear friend of theirs from their own adventures.

It had been the Inquisitor herself who had asked to come back to Skyhold, just days after she gave birth. She had told them she needed her family. So here they were.

By the time both groups had heard the story, the Inquisitor was awake once more, holding her child, and looking so very small. Still, she managed to smile at the little one, when he wiggled his little hand, or opened his eyes. She still had such capacity for love, even after what had happened. It was nothing short of miraculous.

The news would have to be spread amongst the Inquisition, she said, but she wanted these seven (nine counting Cole and Leliana) to know first, to see him first, to hear first what had happened.

Bull took it all with his usual cool stoicism, at least externally. Later, the Chargers would be seen scouring the hinterlands, Hero and Crow in tow, making sure none of the bastards who had done this lived. None were shown any modicum of mercy. After he was personally sure that all were wiped out, he babysat. He had always had a way with children, and this little one was no different. The Inquisitor found she slept much, much better knowing that her little one was in such safe, strong hands.

Solas showed little emotion, and avoided the chambers as much as possible. It hurt, but she had expected it. He had never been one for doting. Not on her, at least. But she did notice that there was an occasional drawing slipped into her daily missives.

Varric couldn’t stop writing, missives to Hawke and company to look out for any offshoots of the group that had hurt her, fairy tales to tell the little one, the stories of all his new family. When he had time between furious writing sessions, he kept the people off her back, out of her way. Well, him and Cole, and Josephine. Totally mostly him, though.

Dorian got in bed beside her, usually with one arm around her to help her sit up, murmuring all the gossip he could think of, ensuring someone was with her at all times. She felt safe around him, for obvious reasons. He listened when she broke down, comforted her, distracted her, and learned everything he could about babies. He styled the baby’s wild hair when he slept, he made sure he had the best tiny clothes. He was determined to not only be the babe’s uncle, but the Best Uncle. She appreciated his enthusiasm.

Cullen seemed particularly visibly distraught for a long time, eyes full of tears as he took it in, occasionally murmuring his grief, his anger, his disappointment in his ability to protect her. He vowed to never let her out of his sight again. Though he eventually decided that Dorian’s, Vivienne’s, Bull’s, and Cassandra’s sights would work as well.

Cassandra made herself useful. She got blankets, pillows, helped the Inquisitor walk around every few hours, helped her bathe, change, everything she needed. She didn’t talk much (not terribly new), but when she did, the Inquisitor appreciated her words. Soft encouragement. Reminders that this would not define her. That she was strong for having come through.

Vivienne was a pillar. Cool, as always, but not cold. Never cold. She gossipped with Dorian, or whipped up potions, or assisted in Cassandra’s helping. She refused to bring up what had happened, and the Inquisitor was endlessly grateful for that. Though, if Dorian was going to be Best Uncle, Vivienne was going all out for Best Auntie.

Felix (for Dorian had immediately granted his blessing, touched by her thoughtfulness) would know only love. Support. He was cherished. The Inquisitor’s closest friends became his closest family, and no one was about to let him forget it.

**Author's Note:**

> Congratulations on making it through that fresh hell. Tomorrow will be much better, I promise. As always, Kudos and Comments are greatly appreciated.


End file.
